Gunman on loose after shooting in Paris

Police hunt man with rifle who seriously injured one person in newspaper office, shot at a bank and hijacked a car. French police are hunting a lone gunman on the loose in central Paris after he opened fire at the offices of a newspaper and a major bank before hijacking a car to take him to the Champs-Elysees avenue. The attacker, who police said was filmed by video-surveillance cameras, fired shots on Monday at the office of Liberation newspaper, seriously injuring a photographer's assistant before fleeing, police and staff at the newspaper said. About 90 minutes later, he opened fire outside the headquarters of the Societe Generale bank in the La Defense business district, 10km of the centre, police and a spokeswoman for the bank said. Shortly afterwards, the same man hijacked a car nearby and forced the driver to drop him on the Champs-Elysees Avenue in central Paris, the driver told police.  Police said the description of the robber fitted that of the gunman, who was armed with a hunting rifle or similar weapon. Cartridges found after both attacks corresponded.  A police helicopter hovered over the Champs-Elysees area to help in the manhunt. Earlier, Fabrice Rousselot, the managing editor of Liberation, said witnesses described the assailant as a short-haired man in his 40s. Police said he was "of European type". Police deployed outside the offices of other media businesses in the French capital.   The mid-morning incidents came days after an armed intruder entered the offices of the BFM TV channel, threatening journalists before disappearing. Police said video surveillance footage showed it was the same man.